Re: OT: What OS

[James Fidell <james@xxxxxxx>]

Quoting Mark Hetherington (mark.egroups@xxxxxxx):

> All the mentions of Linux and free/low cost etc reminds me that while
Linux
> is free to download, since one needs an OS to connect a computer to
the
> Internet to get hold of said "free" operating system plus
availability of a
> CD Writer and an OS to run writer software, it suddenly has an
intrinsic
> cost. The alternative is to purchase a distro from a retailer at a
similar
> cost to the more popular and easier to administer MS OS offerings.

Can you find a copy of Windows that you can purchase and use *legally*
for anything near the price of the Linux distributions on, say,

  http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/cheap.html

IMNSHO, there's no way Windows is "easier to administer" than
Linux
(or any other UNIX variant), either.  Windows may have a pretty
point'n'drool interface, but that doesn't make it any easier to secure
and maintain a machine over a long period.  As an example, updates
issued by Microsoft can break other software running on the machine
(there was an instance of a security update breaking Lotus a while back
-- if you're using Lotus for your web services, you were then somewhat
stuck).  That kind of thing is near unheard of in the UNIX
community.
UNIX, on the other hand, does have a somewhat more arcane command line
interface that can be time-consuming for the newcomer to learn.

Generally, I don't think either OS is easier to administer than the
other.  Mostly it's a question of what you're used to.

James

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